Overwhelming Trick-or-Treat Turn Out

For the first time since we’ve lived here we ran out of treats. It goes without saying that we had more kids this year than ever. The street was noisy with kids and parents in cars and every neighborhood dog was barking. We got hit early with a group of about 40(?) kids from Pryor Middle School traveling en mass. They were followed by 3 girls. When I commented that it was good to have only 3 after that last group one girl said, “We are with them, but we’re not.”

There were lots of little ones and most were polite. We had to turn out our light at 8PM.

The woman who was pregnant when I was putting in the lawn and would chat with me on her way to pick up her son at Kenwood showed up with the toddler who is a little younger than Sophie. She said the little girl had pretty well picked up on this Halloween thing so I lowered the candy bowl to her. She reached in and tried to get a handful. Her mom corrected her and helped her pick just one. The Dad was also along with them and he made a point to say thank you. They seem like nice people.

I’ve got but one more day of being 50-something and if all goes as planned it should be a very nice day. Our whole family will be together celebrating 3 birthdays. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Oct 30

I wrote a blog yesterday, posted it but wasn’t happy with it. It really wasn’t blogworthy. First thing this morning I deleted it. Today I’ll try again.

I got up to the alarm clock this morning. I started sleeping later and later each morning and wanted to stop the trend. I’m going to have to wake up early on Saturday anyway so this will get me ready. Setting our clocks back an hour this weekend will help me recover from the drive we are going on in time to drive back.

I just saw a story on the CBS Evening news about a program where prison inmates are used to train shelter dogs. The program provides the inmates with new life skills, responsibility, patience and yes, kindness and love. The dogs, once trained, are no longer throw-aways but are highly adoptable. What I found incredible was the emotion the inmates had for the dogs. They interviewed a woman serving a life sentence. She kept a picture book with pictures of every dog she trained. She pointed out, with tears in her eyes, her favorite. Another male inmate got too choked up to talk as he was being interviewed. Another had trained 54 dogs and was wiping his eyes as he told the reporter about the program. It is rare to see a good news story like this. It was a welcome relief from the other stories and the constant bombardment of nasty political adds we are experiencing. Coincidentally, Penny’s blog has a dog story in it today.

I finished the David Sedaris book today, “When You Are Engulfed in Flames”. You don’t understand the title of the book until the last CD. He spends the better part of 2 CDs discussing his struggles with giving up smoking. I find it interesting that this guy, who is so self-centered and insecure has easily traveled around the world and lived in the US, France and Japan. Somehow I thought it would take some sophistication and more rational thinking to do that. He just drifts along meeting strange people and making quirky and comical observations. I guess all you need is money and the rest will be provided. Now if I remember I will bring the book with me and let Karen read it. She gave it to me as a gift.

Tomorrow is Halloween. We weren’t sure we would be in town for it until yesterday so we haven’t gotten any candy yet. Last year we got a decent showing of kids. The neighborhood is going through a new generation of kids. Tomorrow is Target day so we will get our Halloween supplies just in time. That’s unusual for us. We usually get the stuff 3 or 4 weeks in advance.

When I worked one option for saving for retirement was the Government Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). The plan consists of several funds with varying degrees of risk and return. I always put my contribution into the most conservative fund, the “G” Fund. I watched as several years ago some investments made 20% while the G Fund made 4 to 6%. I also watched as the other funds fell 20% and the G Fund made 3%. I just checked the funds performances over the last year and every fund except the G Fund has lost a lot of money. The G Fund isn’t returning the 6% needed for me to continue taking out the monthly allotment I have been doing. Our plan was to pay ourselves the interest from the plan and keep the principle about the same. In that manner we could get added monthly income for life. But with the return getting close to 0 we are reducing the monthly allotment to the minimum allowed.

.........................The G Fund is the top green line

We will tighten our belts for a while and wait for better times—hopefully not too long. We traveled a lot this year and spent more freely while we could. We knew things would get bad for a while, they always do. The big question is how bad and how long?

Not a Manic Monday

Success! I seem to have fixed my computer. I searched the Microsoft sit and after several dead ends finally came across the solution. There is a function built in to the windows operating system that scans the windows software for problems and fixes whatever it finds. All you do is get into DOS mode and type sfc /scannow. Everything seems to be back to normal now. I had managed to go to 4 system recovery points but whatever my problem was it followed me through all the earlier computer settings. So, I’m happy about that.

Penny and I got shot today for the flu. I piggybacked on her doctor’s appointment for the shot. While in the waiting room I read some articles in the Oct Family Circle. Both had to do with raising kids. The first explained how to deal with typical issues as kids grow. Issues that we didn’t have to deal with. They were things like the pressure for girls to dress like sluts, body piercing and tattoos and gloomy Goth dress. The basic message was to start teaching the kids as early as kindergarten about how and why we dress a certain way. That’s a type of training I never got. Growing up I actually believed that “clothes don’t make the man” was true and that people didn’t really notice how you dressed.

The weather turned chilly today and will go down into the 30’s tonight. We haven’t turned the heat on yet but tonight might be the night. Penny likes it a little chilly at night. She derives great comfort from wrapping up herself in a warm blanket on a chilly night. She likes to be tucked in, too. It reminds her of being tucked in by her Dad.

Kitty Update—All 4 cats were here last night at feeding time. After being fed they all disappeared. Marmalade, who has been here constantly for a week has gone all day. Tonight Marmalade and Meredith have shown up so far. It has been cold and windy so maybe they have a warmer place to stay. When I opened the door to feed them Meredith stepped inside and I had to push her back out.

A Picture Perfect Day

Well, almost. Penny isn’t feeling well since mid-day. Besides that, however, it has been a nice day.

It was a clear cool day with bright sunlight— A good day to be irresponsible and run off with my new camera to try it out. I went to one of my favorite places for pictures, the beach, and spent about 45 minutes wandering around taking pictures not for their artistic effect but more to check out the camera’s functions and ability.

I’m very pleased with the way it works. Here are some sample shots:

The 20X zoom is incredible. The following are pictures taken with no zoom and then with 20X.

I sat next to Brie and took a close-up of her.

I tested the macro on our magnolia tree.

I took some indoor pictures of chairs and fans and things to get an idea of the flash capability and it looks very good. No picture worth putting here.

After lunch Penny and I sat down and made out Vermont picture book on Winkflash. We did it surprisingly fast for us. The order is in and we will see if it arrives in time for the birthday party.

KITTY UPDATE—Meredith showed up tonight!!! She was skinny and very hungry and seemed to be happy to be back.

Marmalade is still hanging around all day sleeping outside our back door. Here is a typical pose.

Tomorrow it is back to being more responsible but today was OK.

Revolt of the Machines

Both Penny and I had problems with our electronics today. My desktop was updated overnight while it slept by the all-powerful Microsoft. Now it does everything connected with Microsoft v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. If I’m patient I can sometimes wait an operation out. Sometimes the programs don’t respond. I’ve contacted Microsoft support and I’m waiting for a response. I can’t even load in an earlier recovery point where the computer was working because that software doesn’t respond.

Penny’s embroidery machine is working sporadically for her. She’s managing to make her Egmont shirts but at a slower pace than she likes.

Penny bought me my birthday present today—More electronics. It’s a Canon PowerShot SX10IS. That’s the newest version of the camera I now have. Its big feature is a 20X zoom. I enjoy the 12X zoom on my “old” camera. I can’t wait to see what 20X is like. I hadn’t planned on playing with the camera before my birthday but Penny reminded me that we will be going to a wedding the next day. She thought it would be fun to take pictures there so I will be getting familiar (read playing with) with the camera before my birthday.

We went to church this evening and it was nice to be back into our normal schedule. Our church is such a contrast to the one we were in last week in Indian Harbor Beach. That church was modern and used the latest technology during the Mass. The choir had an orchestra with it consisting of a trumpet, French horn, saxophone, clarinet, violin and drums. Oh, of course, they had an organ. The hymnal was a projection on the front wall on 4 screens.

In contrast our choir had 4 singers who, while dedicated—God bless them—are not good singers. The woman leading the responsorial psalm kept getting the words wrong. I actually respect these people for volunteering but sometimes the choir is downright humorous.

Strange laundry story: I try to care for Penny’s clothes by following the laundry instructions. You know, wash cold, tumble on low heat or lay flat to dry. I had to read one of Penny’s blouses instructions 3 times before I believed it. It said to wash in cold water and not to put in the dryer. It said to tie it in a knot and leave it that way until dry. It is now drying in a knot on top of the dryer.

Now I will se if I can post this on this computer.

Predictions and Precipitation

The entertainment at the FIT 50th anniversary banquet was The Amazing Kreskin, a mentalist. He is very good and is quite convincing that he can actually read minds. He related that he has predicted who the next president will be. This is the formal announcement:

NYC, NY: The World Bar. The Amazing Kreskin sealed his prediction for our next President December 6, 2007 in front of New York Press and an esteemed Rabbi. November 6th, 2008 is the date we all will know if his prediction was correct. When he made his prediction there were almost a dozen candidates. Is it McCain, Obama or someone else who is no longer in the race? Stay tuned to find out!

He also told us that the election will be decided in the last 6 days. I thought of this tonight when watching the CBS evening news. We are in the last 11 days of the campaign now. A financial analyst on the show believes there will be a huge drop in the market within the next week. Does this fit with Kreskin’s prediction? We will know soon.

We received over 2 inches of rain overnight. It finally was letting up when we made our normal Target run. Today Penny needed to shop so that’s what we did after Target.

It’s been a quiet day otherwise. I did more laundry and picture sorting.

KITTY UPDATE—Marmalade and Buzz have been outside all day getting wet—but still hanging around. It’s paying off for them because I’ve been feeding them scraps and leftovers. Meredith hasn’t shown up. She may be gone for good. There is no indication of another raccoon yet.

A Good Day to Be Inside

US UPDATE- I forgot to mention when I first posted this that this is the 39th anniversary of the day Penny and I met. Our first "date" came on Halloween.

I like it when the weather is bad and I have a lot of indoor things to do. When it’s nice I always feel the draw to be outside. The weather has been so nice this week it made it difficult to do indoor things. I’m also trying to give my foot sufficient rest to heal up and stop hurting. The rainy weather helps with that, too. No kayaking or biking in the rain.

The most strenuous thing I did today was to load the raccoon in the car and go release him. Rocky IV was not shy about leaving. He was out and gone so fast I couldn’t get a good picture. He was big, too. His fur was almost completely gray—no auburn mixed in as with the other 3. At least I know this is not a former marauder returning. Now we must wait and see if there are any more around. This guy was easy to catch. I had the trap set up with food and water in it for 2 days before I started setting it. He got comfortable going in it. I also used the trick that Kathy suggested—covering the trap so that it looked like a nice cozy dark den instead of a wire cage. I also covered the floor with leaves.


.....................before release

................................after
Dumping the raccoon didn’t appear to stress my foot. Once back at home I went about recovery operations from our 3-week trip. Yesterday I got all 7 of our suitcases/backpacks unpacked and most of our stuff put away. Today it was time to make a dent in the huge pile of laundry we have. I jokingly said to Penny that we could probably wait another week before doing laundry.

We also voted today. 2 more votes for Barack! Only kidding, I’m voting for the experienced one—I can’t wait until Sarah is sitting in that Oval Office. I’m taking Karen’s approach here and not talking politics anymore—except maybe a few jokes. The voting process was quick and easy. We were in and out in fewer than 15 minutes. We got there just before 10 AM. My strategy was to miss the early before-work voters and beat the lunchtime crowd. That left us competing with the old fart retired crowd and those who had flexible schedules. There was a steady stream of voters but no line.

There also was a WOOT-OFF in progress today so I monitored the computer while doing chores to see if anything good came up and to try to get one of their $1 bags of crap. I missed getting a neat toy for Sophie but succeeded in getting a bag of crap.

Winkflash is once again having their picture book sale—good timing for our Vermont trip. I’ve sorted through our 1600 or so pictures and picked out about 200 candidates for a book. Penny and I will sit down and pick the ones we want in a book as we did for our Montana book. We have until the 31st to get this done.

I also sorted through our reunion photos and we have about 80 good enough to send in to be included in the reunion DVD that 1 brother is putting together.

In wrapping up and putting away items from our trip I tallied some statistics. The total distance we covered including air miles, Vermont driving and Florida driving was over 5500 miles.. We spent $422 on gas. We got a great rate on the rental car, a small Jeep SUV but surcharges, taxes and fees added an additional 25% ($100) to the cost. I knew that ahead of time—I just find it incredible.

Kitty Update

We returned home after being gone almost 3 weeks to find the food jar ripped off of the feeder and the food bin, tray and entire area picked clean of any morsel of cat food—Raccoons are back.

I had no way of knowing when the raccoons cleaned things out but there were no cats around that first evening home. The feeder still works fine. The mechanism itself is raccoon hardened now. I got lax about how securely I attached the big plastic jar of additional food to the top of the feeder. I thought we had o aggressive critters around.

Velcro was first to show on Monday followed by Buzz and later Marmalade on Tuesday. Marmalade spent the night sleeping outside the back door and has been out there all day today begging for food and attention. Meredith hasn’t shown her face yet—I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I’ve set up the raccoon trap once again and will try once again to rid the area of the critters. Thus the Rocky IV story begins.

Now for something completely different—I just heard a local news story about a preacher who was just arrested because they found his dead wife in his freezer. Evidently he killed her4 years ago, buried her, moved her and buried her again and then out of fear the body would be found, dug it up again and put it in his freezer. The story didn’t say how the frozen body was found. This would be a perfect story for those CSI shows.

UPDATE--8:45 PM-- I just caught a big raccoon. If the cage holds him overnight I will bring him out to join Rockies I, II and III in the morning.

Feelings and Thoughts

I didn’t feel a strong attachment to most of the people at my recent reunion. It’s been too long since they were part of my life. It was interesting to have those old memories stirred up and see where all those then 20-something guys ended up. I know very little of what happened to my high school friends. In my mind they are all teenagers. This reunion closed the loop on my college friends. We all have had most of our careers completed. Most were still the same person I knew back then—just fatter and mellowed some by time and experience. It was surprising that the guy who was the biggest in college was actually skinnier now.

One guy came up to me the first day and said, “Do you know who I am?” I didn’t know until he smiled. His smile was exactly like it was when he was 20 years old.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the marriages that worked even though they wed while in school. There were those relationships that didn’t make it but we never found out what went wrong. Of course, some that were in their 2nd or 3rd marriage were not surprising.

Something that did surprise me was my reaction when I opened the sliding door of our 9th-floor hotel room to look out over the Atlantic Ocean. Seeing that beach was like meeting an old friend. This was the beach that convinced me to try to live near the ocean wherever I ended up. It was where I learned about sand spurs, jellyfish that sting, sand fleas, body surfing and responsibility. I spent too much time here during my freshman year. My grades took a huge hit and put me in a grade point average hole that I had to struggle to recover from over the next 3 years. That first year I spent so much time there that my hair bleached blonde at the tips and my tan lasted year-round. I’m paying for that now with the wrinkles on my face.

.......................... Sunrise viewed from our room

Penny and I were reminded by my brothers that we were “the cutest little couple on campus”. We were little, too. I weighed in at 126 and Penny was barely over 100 pounds. One place where I did feel strong emotions was when for old times sake I parked at the beach like we used to, hung my glasses on the rear view mirror, like I used to, and leaned over and kissed Penny—not quite like I used to--but it was still emotional enough for me to tear up.

Sometimes when you return to an area, you feel nostalgic seeing the place. It wasn’t like this in Melbourne or at FIT itself. Everything has changed to the point where it was barely recognizable. Except for a few areas on campus if you blindfolded me and set me anywhere I wouldn’t recognize I was in Melbourne when the blindfold was removed. I felt no attachment to anything in the area except the beach.

.............Yes, there was a parade

As I’d already mentioned in my last blog saying good-bye was tough for me, too. It wasn’t because I had a strong bond with anyone there. These people were important to me years ago and the short time we were together was sufficient for us to realize how special our relationship was. It is an amazing assortment of good people. Since the group is literally scattered across the country and getting old we don’t know if or when we will ever gather again.

This reunion had none of the anxiety attached to it as TV and movies portray—probably because we’ve outgrown that pettiness and are just thankful we are alive and kicking. I didn’t go there with any deep emotional drive or any real expectations. I went because I promised I would. I’m glad I did. It really was a great weekend. If they try for another one in a few years and I’m able, I will not have to be coaxed into going.

38 Years

That’s how long it’s been since I saw my fraternity brothers who attended what was billed as the 35th reunion of the Delta-Delta-Tau (DDT). I won’t bother to explain why they picked 35, it’s not important. What is important is that this group of guys from a local, not a national fraternity, developed such a strong bond of fellowship and brotherhood that after all these years they had to get together again. The first reunion was 5 years ago—I missed that one because I couldn’t travel due to my back problems. That first reunion developed out of the realization that we were all aging and the get togethers that would likely start occurring would be for sad reasons. So a few of the brothers decided to get as many of the brothers together as they could. They enjoyed that first reunion so much they decided to have one this year—to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) or Florida Tech.

The primary movers and attendees at the reunion were mostly from the pledge class that joined the fraternity in my senior year at the school or later, so I didn’t know everyone. The reunion provided an opportunity to meet those and reacquaint myself with the others.

Penny and I were welcomed from the moment we arrived at the hotel. I hadn’t even reached the check-in counter before we were shaking hands and trying to recognize who we were talking to. It was difficult to recognize some, easy for others. I liken it to a baby. When Sophie, for example, was born her basic Sophie face was there but hard to recognize. In the case of a baby the face forms over the first year or so and all the recognizable features remain for many years to come. If you are around someone frequently as they age you still see them in that face. If not, as with the case of all these people, it is like the newborn baby thing in reverse. The basic face is there but on many it takes some discerning to see it. Add to that the fact that I didn’t sit down with a yearbook and prime myself with everyone’s name. It was a fun experience.

The first thing I found was I had forgotten that we had a fraternity handshake. Since this was a group of people in their late 50s and early 60s there wasn’t much in the way of ego issues or trying to show one was doing better than the other. We are all too old to concern ourselves with those trivial matters. We have a better understanding now about what is important and what a unique gift each of us is.

A number of the brothers had sick or aging parents they are caring for. One brother has early onset Alzheimer’s. There were 8 to 10 couples that met in school and were still married. There were also those working on 2nd, 3rd or 4th wives.

I was happiest to se my big brother at the reunion. He was the smart, easy-going type and married while still in school. We all doubted the marriage would work but it did. Like me he had a low draft number and like me he signed up to join the Air Force. Unlike me he passed his draft physical and actually served a full Air Force career. It turned out that we both were happy to see one another and ended up sitting together at both the banquets we attended. This was the guy who loaned me a guitar when I was a pledge and tried to teach me to play “With a Little Help From My Friends”. He assigned me the task of serenading a neighborhood high school girl with that song. She had a crush on me. She would play tennis at the college tennis courts which was also where the motorcycle parking area was. She saw me when I parked my motorcycle. I never did the serenade. Nobody clued the girl in and there was no set schedule to her appearance—so I got away without having to do it.

When I left school I gave my motorcycle to one of my brothers who needed transportation. I wondered if he ever got good use out of it. I found out that he did. He didn't remember who gave it to him but when I asked him if he used it his eyes went wide and he said "It was you!" He had just been talking about it with another brother at the banquet. He said he used it his whole senior year and then gave it to someone else when he left.

There is a lot more I could write about the weekend but this is already too long. Maybe I’ll add some tomorrow. The bottom line is that it was an amazing weekend. When It came time to say good-bye I found myself getting misty eyed and even shedding a few tears. I’m never good at good-byes especially when I know I may never see these folks again. They were only in my life for a couple of years but my life was changed because of this group of guys. This group was also responsible for bringing Penny and I together—but that’s another story.

Been Away a While

You know you’ve been away from home for a while when:

- You have to think about which light switch turns on the kitchen lights.

- You notice that the height of your toilet seat is lower than you are used to.

- The tap water has a taste and chlorine odor to it

- The coffee maker has a spider web in the water compartment.

- Your house has an unusual smell to it.

- The orange juice carton left in the refrigerator is spherical in shape.

- The cat runs when you walk into the room.


I may add to this if I notice more

First Pictures

I forgot to show Karen the first pictures that Sophie took. When we were at the playground and I got close to her I noticed that she realized which button we pushed to take pictures. I set the camera on macro and held it in front of her. She deliberately reached out with her pointer finger and pressed the shutter. Here are the results:

Vermont Pictures

For those who are interested here are my favorite pictures from our visit to Vermont.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gugliepb/PaulSVT08#

The Last Days

Tomorrow at this time we should be boarding our aircraft for the trip back to Florida. Penny and I went out for one last drive today in the area between Debbie’s cabin and the Mt Snow ski resort. It was a nice last drive up here. The colors are fading some but are still brilliant at many locations.

We have done everything possible at this point to be packed and ready—only with 24 hours to spare. The bags are packed with the exception of things we will be using before we go. I’ve packed dozens of apples, cushioned in a couple of boxes. They are in the fridge until I put them in the luggage. We are bringing back some cheese and a little maple syrup for everyone, too.

We still have 2 servings of pie left for each of us and some cheese to finish—oh, and a few apples, too. It is said an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I’ve been eating 4 or 5 each day and that keeps everybody away!

If we are not relaxed after 2 weeks up here we never will be. I thought I would have time to start back on writing my book while up here but no such luck. The daily ritual was to go take pictures. Then we would return to the cabin and download pictures to the computer. After dinner it is time to blog and I take a long time to write mine. I also tend the fire and, of course, watch some TV with Penny. Before you know it bedtime has arrived.

We can’t complain about the weather for this trip. The first 2 days were a disappointment but we ended up with a string of incredibly perfect days. The sunny days corresponded to the peak in color for the foliage. I don’t think I’ll see those perfect conditions again. The leaves are beginning to fall like rain the last couple of days.

Tomorrow the adventure continues.

Day 11-More of the Same

It was a slow Sunday. The morning went to some small chores, then a drive to Bennington to revisit the beautiful cemetery where Robert Frost is buried. We made a short loop drive to the south and then headed back to the cabin for football and pie. About a mile from the cabin I saw 3 guys fly fishing in the river that feeds the reservoir.

Here are some pics from today.

Pumpkin Pie

Our quest today was to find a homemade pumpkin pie for Penny. We showed up promptly at the 9 AM start of the church bake sale and 5 minutes later we were headed back to the car with not 1 but 2 pies. We got a pumpkin and a cherry pie. That means we have 2 1/3 pies to eat in 4 days. We still have some of the apple pie to finish. Pies have been a daily event in our last 2 trips.

We did a half-day of leaf peeping then returned to the cabin and relaxed, watching some college football before going to church.

I haven’t made any plans for the next couple days here. We have done everything we wanted to do—so now anything else is gravy. It is supposed to be nice weather, so we will get up tomorrow and do whatever we want to.

Here is a sample of today’s pictures:

We went back to "Joe's" bridge today. It's the suspension bridge that Joe spied when we were here in the summertime. Here is what the area looks like in autumn.

After watching the economy tank this week Penny and I figure this is our last trip for a while. We intentionally did a lot this year—using our frequent flyer miles and traveling because we expected things to worsen. I didn’t expect to see us lose so much of our investments so quickly, however.

Day 9, Vermont Ramblings

The first time we drove off the main roads up here (3 years ago) it was a little scary. We didn’t know that most side roads looked like what we would call driveways anywhere else. The fear was that the road would dead end and we would get lost in the boondocks or worse get caught up in a scene from Deliverance. Now we venture down the narrowest roads with no trepidation. It’s an adventure and not scary at all. Dead ends are clearly marked and sooner or later you break out onto a major road.

Many of these roads have places where there are 3 ft sticks standing up on either side of the road. They are there to mark the edge of the road after a snowfall in places where it would be dangerous to drive off the roadbed.

One gas station in Wilmington does not have credit card readers on the pumps. To offset that fact and to keep business good they sell their gas a few cents cheaper. They also provide full service, pumping the gas and washing the windows. The first time we pulled in there we were the only customer. All 3 attendants watched us drive up and all walked towards us as we approached. I didn’t know what was up. The service was good and now that is where we buy our gas. Their strategy worked with us.

Vermont has a 10% sales tax. It takes some getting used to.

I did a lot of driving and picture taking today. Penny was with me half the day but had to quit because of her ears. She insisted I go out alone so I did. I spent about 3 ½ hours driving around on dirt roads looking for nice scenery.

The foliage is so beautiful it is overwhelming. Every road, every turn is dressed in bright yellows, reds, oranges and greens. Add in the rolling mountains and areas where one can see for miles and it creates a situation where anywhere I stopped there were nice pictures to take. I couldn’t take them all, of course, but I found myself passing on pictures we would have been elated to have 3 years ago. It was just so much fun driving through what appeared to be bright beautiful tunnels of gold and red. There were no clouds today. The only down side was that Penny couldn’t enjoy it as much as I did.

We didn’t get a pumpkin pie today. The pie sale is tomorrow.

We stopped by the winery this morning with the intent of sending some wine to Kathy only to find that they currently can’t ship wine. Sorry Sis.

I bought a map today that covers only the 2 south counties in Vermont. It shows most of the little roads. I also have our GPS with us. I use it as a compass and map. It announces each upcoming road and shows the shape and direction of the road. The combination of the paper map and the GPS kept me from getting “lost”. More importantly I was able to venture forth more efficiently. Dead reckoning does not work well on those winding roads.

This is Columbus Day weekend and it is a big holiday up here. Rt 9 going into Wilmington was backed up for about a mile, packed with leaf peepers and trucks. We have not seen Debbie’s friends so maybe we will still have the cabin to ourselves.

Mother Nature is cooperating and providing sunny skies all weekend.

That’s my ramble for today. Tomorrow we go forth in quest of pumpkin pie.

2nd Week, First Day

The rain came and went overnight and the clouds remained past midday. We slept in as planned. I used the cloudy weather to complete the wood-stacking job. It’s done and the 2 piles of wood just fit in the expanded storage bin. Karen said she didn’t understand what I was doing so here is a pictorial.

I took this:

And this:

And this is the result:



You can't tell it easily by the picture but the wood stack is 2-deep.
Now I will hang a tarp around it to keep the rain and snow out.

We lunched at Dot’s again today and then went on a short adventure down random one-lane country roads that branched off route 9. It was still partly cloudy and so I didn’t take pictures at every pretty spot but these roads were the most colorful we’ve seen. That means peak color has now come to us.

Penny wasn’t feeling great so she stayed in the car and I jumped out to take pictures.

Since the Columbus Day holiday weekend begins tomorrow and the area will be packed with leaf peepers clogging the road and buying up the apple supply we decided to buy apples today to bring back with us for the kids and ourselves. We also got an apple pie right out of the oven. The pie was too hot to handle when we got it. That was our dinner. It was still warm when we had a piece 2 hours later.

3 years ago when we were here Penny tried to buy a pumpkin pie from one of the local churches holiday bake sale. We got there too late to get one and ended up with a good apple pie. This year we will try again. We are planning to get up early tomorrow and go have pumpkin pancakes at the Cup and Saucer. Then we will head down to Jacksonville, VT in our quest for a pumpkin pie. We will be early enough to get one this year (if they still make them). The winery we like is also there so we will visit that, too. Beyond that we have no definite plans. It’s supposed to be sunny so, with peak color all around, we likely will be going off the main road looking for good pictures on the small side roads.

We may start sharing the cabin tomorrow with some of Debbie’s friends. We are not certain they are coming but tonight may be our last night with the cabin all to ourselves.

Rutland and Return

We ventured into Western Vermont today and our timing was good. The colors there are now near peak and the road we took ran between the Green Mountains on one side and some other mountains on the other side and they provided beautiful backdrops to the houses, barns, fields and small towns we passed.

I found myself wanting to stop and take pictures at every turn—but of course, if I did we would not make much progress. So I passed many Kodak picture locations and stopped when there was something extra-nice in a place where I could pull over or park.

We went up to Rutland, which is roughly half-way up the state. As we approached Rutland 3 church spires were prominent over the town. I headed for that area of downtown. We parked in front of one of the churches (at a parking meter that already had 2-hours on it) and walked around admiring the autumn beauty and taking pictures.

It was lunchtime, so we walked down the hill to find a place to eat. The first place we found was a small Japanese restaurant. It had a reasonably priced lunch menu and we thought it would be a nice change from all the Vermont fare we have been eating. It was a good choice. For most of our meal we were the only patrons so we received excellent service. I led the conversation in the direction of how Rutland may have gotten its name. I can’t find any explanation. Penny suggested I drop the topic.

I drove back south on a combination of blue roads and highway. We passed through the village of Manchester and passed an Orvis store that had its own pond behind the building. There was someone demonstrating fly casting techniques there. A little further up the road was the National Fly Fishing Museum. We didn’t stop there. We did stop a little further up the road at a church and took some pictures. There was the Charles Orvis Inn there—I don’t know if it has anything to do with the Orvis stores.

It clouded up after that so we drove the rest of the way with no picture stops.

When we arrived back at the cabin Lacey, the neighborhood dog and his friend were waiting at the end of the driveway.

I fed them my leftover Japanese food. They liked it but couldn't manage the chopsticks.

It’s supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow morning so we will probably sleep in in the morning. I’ll probably finish stacking the wood. Other than that tomorrow is open. It may be a good day to let Penny rest. All this driving is not good for her.

COEXIST

http://carryabigsticker.com/index.html?gclid=CIT4yvLGl5YCFQObFQodnTE35g

Penny likes this bumper sticker and wanted me to post it with an explanation in a blog.

What the Different Symbols Mean:
The first symbol, the crescent moon and star, is commonly used to represent Islam. However, the symbol was in use for thousands of years before it was ever associated with Islam. Here is what it says on About.com about these symbols: "Most sources agree that these ancient celestial symbols were in use by the peoples of Central Asia and Siberia in their worship of sun, moon and sky gods. There are also reports that the crescent moon and star were used to represent the Carthaginian goddess Tanit or the Greek goddess Diana."

The second symbol is a peace symbol. The peace symbol was invented in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a London artist involved with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. After being used in an anti-nuclear protest, it gained popularity as a peace symbol, partly because it was easier to draw than a dove. You can read more about the origins of the peace symbol using this link.

The "e" is adorned with the symbols for male and female. According to Wikipedia, the male symbol (an arrow pointing away from a circle) is derived from the astronomical and astrological symbol for Mars.The female symbol (a cross-like symbol fixed to the bottom of a circle) is derived from the symbol of Venus. When used together, the symbols can signify intersexual or transgender. However, the designer of this sticker has told me that when he added the male and female symbols, he was trying to promote the idea of harmony between men and women. Read more about gender symbols on Wikipedia.

The next symbol is the Star of David, also known as the Shield of David. The symbol has been used since about A.D. 1000 to symbolize Judaism and the Jewish community. The symbol appears on the Israeli flag. Read more about the Star of David on Wikipedia.

The letter "i" is topped with a star within a circle. According to About.com, this is a pentacle: "The five-pointed star within a circle is the most common Pagan symbol, and it is typically used to identify oneself as a Pagan or Wiccan. The five points represent the 4 elements (Earth, air, water, fire) plus the spirit, and the circle connects them all. A five-pointed star without the circle is sometimes called a pentagram, rather than a pentacle. Based on numerology, the five points means the pentacle symbolizes the Earth element and can be used as an Earth symbol on an altar."

The letter "S" has been cleverly adapted to resemble the Taijitu, a Chinese symbol representing the idea of yin and yang from Taoist and Neo-Confucian philosophy. Yin and yang describe the two opposing but complementary forces found in nature. Yin is associated with shade and darkness as well as femininity, while yang is has associations with light and masculinity. Wikipedia describes yin and yang more fully.

The final symbol resembles a cross, which of course has come to be associated with Christianity and the crucifixion of Jesus.

Goin’ Down to Woodstock

We had clear, cloudless skies today—all day and we are supposed to have at least some sun every day but 1 for the rest of the time we are here.

Today we went back to Woodstock, a little town we enjoyed visiting 3 years ago. For that visit we had cloudy skies. This time the Sun made a nice difference. The picturesque Quechee (key-chee) Gorge, Vermont’s Grand Canyon, is the first stop after leaving the interstate. We took lots of pictures with the cloudy skies 3 years ago. We took lots more today. In fact, since the sun was a little low when we got there at 10 AM, we came back to the gorge later in the day after we visited Woodstock and took even more pictures.

Next it was on to the town of Quechee. It has a dam and a covered bridge. It is the site where Penny took her “horse head” rock pictures. Again the sun made for better pictures. The town was not as crowded as it was last time so we went inside the building beside the dam. Inside there is a glass blowing factory, a potter and a hydroelectric generator and a restaurant that overlooks the river and bridge. A fascinating stop that we missed last time around.

We stopped up the road at another covered bridge and then went on to Woodstock. We walked up and back the main street there. Then it was back to Quechee Gorge and a loop scenic drive back to the interstate.

We had a good day overall.

Penny and I enjoy taking pictures. We are taking pictures of the same things, many times from the same vantage point. We each have a sufficiently different eye to capture alternate interpretations. Certainly some of our shots are almost identical but a surprising number are completely different. We have a sort of friendly competition to find a picture the other doesn’t see and we also point out what we think are good shots to one another.

It is definitely different up here. When you walk into a shop or store instead of being greeted you are ignored. People are mostly friendly but some are downright rude. Most of the drivers here are pretty good. There are also large quantities of cheese and maple syrup available everywhere.